Protective device



Jan. 29, 1957 v. Pizzo ETAL 2,779,109

PROTECTIVE DEVICE Filed March 15, 1956 IN V EN TOR.'

United States Patent() This invention relates to a protective device and more particularly to a shielding device to protect stockings and feet from soiling.

Women who are on their feet a good part of the day and particularly working women, for example, salesladies, female oiiice workers, lsoil the instep of their stockings as well as their feet due to the scufiing of ankles by the wearers shoes and also because of the proximity of the instep to the floor.

Some shoes worn by females are of such structural design and configuration as to aggravate the soiling of the stockings and particularly of the ankles of the wearer. This is particularly the case for suede shoes and more particularly for suede shoes of dark dyed color.

it is an object of this invention to provide a protective shield against soiling of stockings in the vicinity of the feet portion thereof.

It is another object of this invention to provide a shield which is readily inserted and removed from a shoe.

It is a further object to provide a plastic shield of simple construction and of ornamental appearance.

It is another object to provide a plastic shield of inexpensive manufacture.

Theser and other objects of this invention will become apparent upon reading the following descriptive disclosure in conjunction with the accompanying drawing n which;

Fig. 1 is a schematic view, showing in part in dotted outline, the protective shield disposed in place in the shoe of a female wearer,

Fig. 2 is a perspective View, broken away in part to show constructional details,

Fig. 3 is a section View taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a bottom View of the protective shield,

Fig. 5 is a view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 6 is a segmental view of a modified shield having a hook section,

Fig. 7 is a view of a modified'protective device having a pair of spaced-apart plastic shields thereon,

Fig. 8 is a view taken on line 8-8 of Fig. 7,

Fig. 9 is a bottom perspective view of another modified device and Fig. 10 is a bottom perspective view of still another modification. v,

Referring to the drawing and more particularly to Figs. 2 and 5 the protective device of this invention comprises a rigid plastic shield 10 bent at substantially a right to form a vertically disposed ankle segment 11 and a horizontally disposed support segment 12. The angle segment 11 converges toward the front edge 13 of the device, which edge 13 is disposed in part in the toe sec tion of the shoe 14` of a wearer (Fig. l). The rear edge 15 is of substantial height so that the edge of the shield 16 disposed between the top of rear edge 15 and front edge 13 forms a slope of pleasing curvature.

The shield segment 11 forms the effective shield for the stocking and feet and includes the shielding of the angle area as Well as the instep area of the feet.

As shown in Figs. l to 5, the horizontally disposed f in the shoe.

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support segment 12- may be shaped to conformto the instep of the foot and to fit confortably into the arch of the shoe.. For this purpose, the segment. 12 is provided with a semicircular curvatured front edge 17 forming thereby a front bifurcated section having a pair of front, prong points 18 and 19. Similarly the rear of segment 12 isprovided with a semicircular curvatured rear edge 20 there-- by forming a rear bifurcated section having a pair of rear prong points 21 and 22.

The curved rear edge 20 permits the heel ofthe foot to engage the shoe directly without touching the` shield 1.0` and'V similarly the, curved fronty edge 1-7 permits ther ball of the foot tovengage the shoe directly without touching, the shield.. .p

A top sponge rubber pad 23 and a bottom sponge rubber pad 24 are provided with the peripheral configuration given to the horizontal shield segment 12 (Figs. 2 and 3).

Pads 23 and 24 are preferably provided with a plurality of perforations 25 to effect ventilation and comfort and are secured respectively to the top and the bottom surface of segment 12 by means of conventional adhesive.

The modification of the protective shield of Fig. 2 is held in place in the shoe by inserting the horizontally disposed segment 12 and the pads 23 and 24 thereon between the arch of the shoe and the instep of the foot (Fig. 1).

The protective shields are made for both the right foot and for the left fo-ot, so that they are used in pairs. The plastic material may be transparent, translucent or opaque and the exposed edge 16 and the surface 11 may in whole or in part be provided with ornamental fea tures such as synthetic jewels (not shown). The plastic may be any plastic of a rigid nature such as polyvinyl chloride, cellulose acetate and the like.

Turning to Fig. 6, there is shown a modification wherein the rear edge 15 of vertical segment 11 is provided with a hook portion 26 adapted to be disposed behind and above the heel of the foot.

Figs. 7 and 8 show still another modification wherein the protective device is provided with a pair of vertical segments 11 and 11X. In this modification both sides of the wearers feet as Well as the respective stocking sections are prevented from soiling. In this modification a single piece of plastic sheet is bent as shown in Fig. 8.

Turning now to Fig. 9, there is shown a modification wherein the sponge pad is provided with a heel section 26X and a toe section 27. In this modification the heel section 26 is disposed in the heel of the shoe and the toe section 27 is disposed in the toe of the shoe. Accordingly the weight of the foot in the shoe is disposed on sections 26X and 27 thereby securing the sponge pad It is to be noted that the heel section 26X does not extend to the rear wall ofthe shoe.

The modification shown in Fig. l0 is similar to that shown in Fig. 9 except that the shield 10X does not ex tend to the outer extremity of the heel section 26X nor to the outer extremity of the toe section 27.

For purposes of ventilation, the plastic vertical wall segment 11 may be provided with an aperture, preferably in theform of a curvatured slot 23, disposed at the base of said segment 11 and adjacent the horizontal segment 12.

This invention is of broad scope and was illustrated by a plurality of illustrative examples but it is not to be limited to these illustrations.

Thus the plastic shield may be optionally made of leather or other rigid sheet material. Also the sponge rubber pads may be substituted by other material. However, all such substitutions of material or modifications of structure are deemed to be within the scope of this invention.

We claim:

l. A protective shield for protecting stockings while worn with shoes against soiling consisting of a substantially at vertical shield wall adapted to be disposed interiorly between the feet and adjacent the angle area but exteriorly of the stocking integral with a horizontal plate adapted to be disposed adjacent the instep of the foot and exteriorly of the stocking, said vertical shield having a sloping front edge rising from the toe portion to the heel portion and said plate having semi-circular cavities at both the front and heel portions to permit the toes and the heel of the wearers foot to contact the shoe, and a hook at the top of the vertical wall adjacent the rear edge of said vertical wall, said hook being adapted to secure the shield to a Wearers foot.

2. A protective shield for protecting stockings while worn with shoes against soiling consisting of a substantially at vertical shield wall adapted to be disposed interiorly between the feet and adjacent the ankle area but exteriorly of the stocking integral with a horizontal plate adapted to be disposed adjacent the instep of the foot and exteriorly-of the stocking, said vertical shield having a sloping front edge rising from the toe portion to the heel portion and said plate having semi-circular cavities at both the front and heel portions to permit the toes and the heel of the wearers foot to contact the shoe, said shield being provided with a ventilation slot in the vertical wall adjacent the horizontal plate.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 487,492 Pugsley Dec. 6, 1892 2,165,879 Wilkinson July 11, 1.939 2,498,624 Skinner Feb. 21, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 8015/90 Great Britain Mar. 28, 1891 

